“Finished up here, then?” Reese asked as the three of them turned and began to walk back toward their vehicles.

“I thought I’d stay in town for a while until the fire marshal’s report was complete.”

“If you need access to the site, once it’s been cleared, let us know,” Reese advised.

Ashley rested her hand on the handle of her SUV, hitched one hip against the door, and observed them both with a small grin. “Oh, I’ll be sure to do that.”

Then she stepped into her Durango, started the engine, and drove away with a small wave in their direction.

Bri watched the red truck turn right and disappear around the bend toward Herring Cove. Part of her was irritated at the cocky self-confidence of the private investigator, but she found that the woman’s flippant grin stayed with her. “Is that normal?”

“An insurance investigation? Pretty much all the time when there’s loss of property.” Reese opened the driver’s-side door of the cruiser and slid in while Bri walked around the other side and got in as well. “It isn’t usual to have a PI run the investigation though. Usually it’s one of the insurance company’s claim representatives.”

“So what do you think?”

“I think we ought to take a very careful look at the fire marshal’s report, and I think you’re going to have some interviews to do.”

Reese met Bri several hours later, and they drove into the center of town together for dinner. As they walked toward a small sandwich shop on the pier at Commercial and Standish, Reese asked, “Get anything from the interviews?”

“Maybe,” Bri replied cautiously. “The manager of the condominium next door says he thought he saw lights flickering in the restaurant a couple of times late at night in the past few weeks.”

“And he didn’t bother to call us?” Reese remarked in disgust.

Bri shrugged. “Said he thought it was probably just kids and didn’t pay much attention.”

“I suppose we’re lucky he mentioned it to you at all.” Reese was next in line at the order window and put in her request for fish and chips and soda. “I don’t suppose he saw a vehicle?”

“Nope. But it fits with our theory that someone’s been using the place. If so, they’re going to be looking for new digs. I thought maybe we could start keeping an eye on some of the other abandoned places around town.”

“Good idea.”

After they had both ordered, they moved away to await their dinner.

“There was something else,” Bri confided.

Reese raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“I talked to maybe a dozen people this evening, up and down the cul-de-sacs off Bradford and along Route 6 toward the Provincetown Inn. At least half told me that I was the second police officer to interview them since the fire.”

“Interesting. Hold on for a second,” Reese added as their number was called. She and Bri collected their food and drinks and walked out of earshot of the tourists and other diners to a small picnic table on Macmillan Wharf. “I don’t suppose you got a description of the new member of our force, did you?”

“Yep.” Bri grinned. “Red hair, green eyes, late twenties. Female.”

“Thorough, isn’t she?”

“Would you say that’s SOP for an insurance claim?” Bri asked.

“No, I wouldn’t.” Reese regarded her dinner absently. Something was off, and the fact that it involved something as dangerous as the possibility of arson bothered her a good deal. “It looks like we need to pay a visit to Ms. Walker.”

“Fortunately,” Bri said, patting her chest pocket, “I have all her numbers.”

“When you give report to the night shift, make sure you give them the addresses of these places and remind them to do a pass-by several times during the shift.”

“Got it.” Bri felt a sudden let-down as she realized that her time with Reese was coming to an end. It was five minutes to midnight, and they were on their way back to the Sheriff’s department to sign out. In another few minutes, Reese would go home and she would be alone. It was Saturday night, she had just finished an exciting shift at work, and she had no one to share it with.

She could go home with Reese, but the small spare bedroom with its single bed seemed too lonely to contemplate. Carre would be out somewhere with friends, probably having a glass of wine and talking about school, or a film she had just seen, or some project she was involved in. Bri’s heart ached as she wondered if Carre would be thinking about her. I should call her. But she said not to—that she would call me when she was ready. She said she wanted a little time to think. Think about what? Think about whether she still loves me? Think about whether she still wants to be with me? Think—

“Bri?”

Bri jumped. They were sitting in front of the Sheriff’s department. The engine was off and the night was very quiet. She had no idea how long she had been staring unseeing through the windshield.

“Yeah?” she said hoarsely.

“You okay?”

Bri nodded and swallowed hard. “Yeah. Fine.”

“I saw Caroline this morning.”

Bri closed her eyes.

“Have you straightened things out with her?” Reese asked gently.

“Not yet.” Bri didn’t want to talk about it. Just thinking about it made her hurt so much inside she was afraid she would cry. She especially didn’t want to discuss what had happened with Reese. She had a sudden sick feeling in her stomach. Christ, does she know about Allie?

Thankfully it was too dark in the car for Reese to see her shamed blush. The thought of Reese knowing about the way she had fucked up was almost as bad as Carre’s tears. She felt like dying.

“You need to do that, Bri,” Reese said evenly as she opened the door of the cruiser.

“Yeah, I know,” Bri replied softly, all the while wondering how to even begin.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

When Reese and Bri walked into the office, Lewis, one of the summer recruits who had been hired to work the swing shift, looked up from the dispatch counter and nodded perfunctorily. “There are messages for both of you on the spindle.”

Bri looked surprised, and Reese frowned as she asked, “From whom?”

The ruddy-complected, sandy-haired officer shrugged his heavy set shoulders. “The names are on the slips there. Yours just says call home.”

“God damn it,” Reese swore swiftly in a tone that made both Bri and Lewis jump. “If you ever get a call from my partner or anything remotely connected to her again, you call me ASAP.”

He stared at her open-mouthed as she grabbed the nearest phone and punched in her home number. Her body vibrated with tension.

“Tor?” She worked to sound calm. “Are you all right?”

As she listened, her body relaxed, and she settled her hip onto the corner of the nearest desk. A smile slowly eclipsed the worry that had suffused her face. “You’re kidding, right?…I thought that was an old wive’s tale…well, I don’t know that many…no! I’ll do it…I’ll be home soon.”

Still grinning, she hung up the receiver. When she glanced up, Bri was watching her intently. “She’s fine.”

Bri relaxed her tight stance too. “Good.”

“I don’t suppose you know Spiritus’ number off hand, do you?” Reese asked.

“You’re kidding, right? Pizza?”

“That’s what I said, too.” Reese shook her head. “She’s hungry, and pretty cranky about it, too.”

While Reese got the number and called in the pizza order, Bri pulled the pink message slips from the spindle on the counter. There were two for her. Both messages were exactly the same, with one minor difference. Each said call me followed by a phone number. They were signed Ashley and Allie, respectively.

“Everything okay, Bri?” Reese asked as she noted the confused expression on Bri’s face.

Blushing, Bri rapidly stuffed the notes into her pants pocket. “Sure. Perfect.”

“Oh, thank God,” Tory said vehemently as Reese walked in the house. “Hurry.”

Reese grinned at her lover, who was curled up on the sofa in a shapeless, button-up pajama top and what appeared to be striped boxers. “You know, I can remember a time when you only said that in bed.”

“Shut up, Conlon, and give me my pizza.”

Laughing outright, Reese put the box down on the coffee table in front of Tory and walked through to the kitchen for plates and napkins. As she worked, she called, “Is Bri here?”

“No,” Tory said around a mouthful of pizza. After a second, she added, “She came in, changed her clothes, and went right back out again.”

“At this hour?” Reese frowned as she carried a bottle of beer for herself tucked against her side, a glass of seltzer for Tory in one hand, and plates, silverware, and napkins in the other. She carefully set them all down, settled on the sofa, and slid a slice of pizza onto a plate. “What is she doing out?”

“It’s Saturday night, Reese.”

“So?” Reese regarded her with a raised eyebrow.

“Try to remember Saturday night when you were twenty.”

“I remember perfectly well, and I was either studying, or more likely asleep.”

“I forgot.” Tory ran her hand affectionately up the inside of Reese’s thigh. “You were a most unusual twenty-year-old, sweetheart.”

Reese slipped her arm around her lover’s shoulder. “You think Bri and Caroline are going to be okay?”

“I think they can be,” Tory said quietly, “if they come back together soon, and don’t do anything more to add to the pain.”

“Do you think I should go look for Bri before she gets herself into more trouble?”

“Let’s give her a chance to find her own way.” Tory felt Reese stiffen. “She needs to come to her own realization of what she wants and needs.”

“I just don’t want either of them to suffer any more,” Reese said with a sigh. “You didn’t see Bri today. She’s…lost.”

Tory tilted her chin and pressed her lips to Reese’s neck, then reached a hand back to curl her fingers into the thick, black hair. Tugging gently, she pulled Reese down for a proper kiss. When she lifted her mouth away, Tory whispered huskily, “You’re going to make the most wonderful parent.”